masseffectfanfictionfandomcom-20200216-history
The Dark Heart: Tensions at Home
COSG: The Dark Heart Chapter 6: Tensions at Home Episode Body Despite the “success” of their expedition, it was vacant and disheartening journey back to the Aetherius for the ground crew. Within the confines of the vessel’s armory was Taylor, who sat alone, forearms sunk woefully to his knees as he stared at the ground, with the burden of Nidel’s death setting in once more. The rest of the security detail, his team, though most weren’t on the mission, had already heard the news about Nidel’s fate, and needless to say, many didn’t know how to feel. It was still fresh on Taylor’s mind, wondering if it was indeed his fault, he’d occasionally look up at the others passing him, but any acknowledgment was hard to come by. Nidel was the only one on the team who had been even friendly towards him, aside from Rhoen, to an extent. He thought to himself, sticking his tongue in cheek before Rhoen walked by, the big giant giving him a light pat on the shoulder. “Keep your head up kid.” He stated plainly, no sentiment in his voice. Taylor was relieved at least somebody finally uttered a word to him,but it was short lived as Saelian entered the room. The Turian stopped for a moment, his piercing eyes stabbing right into Taylor, as he turned for his locker, tossing his equipment down. Lance had kept the two well separate on the journey back, but now, Saelian had the moment he was waiting for. “Well well.” He pretentiously muttered out as he slammed his locker shut, “It’s a shame, we lost the good one now we’re stuck with you.” No longer able to turn a blind eye to Saelian’s hostility Taylor shot up and walked over to the Turian, facing off with as they stared each other down. “I’ve just about had it with you, I don’t need your condescending bony ass berating me, I am not in the mood for this shit, you think I WANTED THAT TO HAPPEN?!” His voice turned into a yell as he finished the sentence. ‘ Saelian gave him a light shove away before sticking his own chest out, sizing Taylor up, but the human stepped right back to him ever so assured. “I’m not so sure, seems like bad luck follows you anywhere you go.” Taylor stayed silent, waiting Saelian to say something else. The Turians mandibles shifted as he stared right back, “Just like in the Alliance huh? Your colleagues just die around you it seems like.” Just like the Taylor went off in a rage, bursting with his legs off the ground and shooting for a double leg takedown on the Turian. Wrapping his arms around both of his legs and heaving up and him downward into the metal flooring. Simultaneously the Turian shifted his legs as he hit the ground, pressing them against Taylor’s abdomen and forcing him back momentarily. All the while the entire team in the armory jumped up, Erinn, Eliae, both came running to see the commotion as everyone absorbed in the moment, mob mentality taking over as no one attempted to break the scuffle apart. Saelian’s leg-press-push shot Taylor back into the center console of the armory, and the Turian, back on his feet launched at him, shoulder out intent on spearing Taylor, who took the brunt of the hit, pressing and pounding into his chest. Quickly thinking, Taylor wrapped his arms around Saelian, and heaved him upward once more, the momentum and waiting sending the two of them tumbling over the center table. They rolled on the ground for several grueling seconds, Saelian throwing sharp short punches, all missing except one, grazing Taylor’s cheek as the Turian’s jagged exoskeleton just barely cutting through his skin. Feeling no pain, no nerves, nothing, the anger and adrenaline coursed through Taylor’s veins as he reversed the Turian with all his strength, rolling into top position, he began to rain down shots on Saelian. Unlike the Turians his were long, wild and powerful, but Saelian seem to evade major damage with quick head movement, the bombs whiffing with the air past his face. However one bombs sliced through, smacking Turian square on the chin, it felt like punching through a cinder block, but Taylor ripped his arm back for another. He clinched an ugly-painful expression for a moment. Saelian reached out, grasping Taylor by the collar, and throwing a straight jab right into Taylor’s already split cheek. He felt that one as the sting consumed the whole bottom right side of his face. In all the chaos, neither man noticed the Captain and Lance rushing to them as their hurried footsteps came crashing in. Suddenly Taylor felt a powerful force yank the back of his collar and toss him aside, tumbling into a locker. There stood Kasper, a look of a category 5 hurricane on his face as he cast the two apart. Taylor attempted to get back into the action, but a tug on the back of his suit held him, and there Iyra. Her surprising strength enough to snap Taylor out of his berzerk as she pulled him back. “Taylor!” she yelled out, “Stop! Chill out chill out! It’s okay!” She ordered in a harsh yet calming tone. Saelian attempted to box back in, back Lance shoved him back to Rhoen, the big Krogan’s massive hand holding the turian back. “That A-FUCKING NOUGH!” Kasper screamed, his voice felt like it could break through walls, “Stop it! Before I actually chuck both of you into an airlock! This is my damn ship!” “Hey he came at me first!” Saelian shouted in an attempted to defend himself. Kasper glared at him, so intense that it seemed to shake the Turian, “I don’t give it shit if he came at or, in your mother first! You don’t fight one of your own here! You don’t disrespect me like that! So enough! Or I will throw both of your sorry asses out into that vacuum of space and won’t turn a fucking head to see you as you suffocate! You got it!?” The Captain’s veins were bursting from his arms and forehead as he threatened the two. He looked to the two for an answer, “Okay?! You got it?!” “Aye aye” they both muttered over each other. The tension simmered but was still boiling, as the Captain mugged two, “Lance, my quarters. Now.” He demanded as he left the room, Lance glaring down both Saelian and Taylor, a silent warning of an incoming ass-chewing. The room seemed to empty slowly after that, Eliae and Erinn both looked taken aback by the situation and they fumbled out of the room. Saelian was marched off by Rhoen and soon it was just Taylor, and Iyra, who had finally let go of the former. She watched, patiently as Taylor reacted, just seeking to calm him down. Taylor wiped the sweat from his forehead, his heartbeat was still racing as he took a deep breath through his nose, and the thought of everything that had just happened sent a fire through his arm and he railed a shot into a locker, denting it. He let out a grunt, and wiped the blood from the cut on his cheek, “I-I don’t know what to say other than, I don’t normally beat up turians for a living.” he muttered as he dropped down, finally cooling off. Iyra dropped to the floor next to him, laughing for a second, “Ha ,It’s okay Taylor, it’s fine, that guy is an asshole, he kind of had it coming.” She looked to the cuts on his cheek, they weren’t deep, but they wouldn’t stop bleeding as he continued to press it, “Are you okay?” He looked at the blood on his hands and rubbed it off on his hardsuit, “I’ve had worse. I’ve gotten my ass kicked a lot.” He had, but it didn’t mean this cut didn’t sting either, he quickly rebuttled to defend himself against his own insult, “But I kick a lot of ass too!”. He couldn’t help but think he had lowered Iyra’s view of him, “I’m sorry you had to see me like that, it’s not me and I made myself look like a drama queen in front of the you and the whole crew.” “You don’t have to defend yourself Taylor.” She stated with a light smile, “Believe me, I’ve been pushed to those limits by plenty of people, I’m not judging you. And if anyone is, I’m sure they need to take a look in the mirror. And regardless, fuck em.” “Ha, yeah, I normally don’t give shit what anyone thinks. I just feel like an idiot.” He admitted, shaking his head, and scraping his hands through his hair, leaving it a frizzy mess. “He was right, shit like this always happens around me, did in the Alliance, it is here. I just wanted a fresh start.” Iyra shook off his attempts to blame himself, “Taylor, you couldn’t of save Nidel, it’s not your fault, and your past shouldn’t matter, not to you, not anyone. It certainly doesn’t to me.” An alleviating sentiment for Taylor to no Iyra wasn’t concerned of what Saelian said about Taylor’s Alliance history. “You don’t care about that? Even if I had done something horrible?” He asked a testing inquiry. “Well, it depends on how horrible, but if it was that bad you wouldn’t be here, so no, I don’t care.” She answered, still smiling, it did help comfort Taylor, making him more relaxed as his nerves continued to dissipate. “We’ve all got past, from everything I can tell, you’re a pretty good person.” She stood up, looking down at him with a hopeful expression. “You’re an open book, you’re not a mystery and you seem, genuine...that’s rare.” Taylor nodded, Iyra really did have a way with helping him, maybe it was the attraction he had too, but regardless, she made him feel more valuable than he did. “Thanks, I needed that pep-talk.” “Any time Taylor.” She declared, “If you need anything, my doors always open.” Seeing a chance to flirt with her Taylor thought for a split second, you don’t get anywhere if you don’t take risk, “Just how late is that door open?” he amorously asked, with slanted eyebrows and his best seductive look but coupled with his beaten face, he just looked like a homeless pirate. Iyra let out a humorous scoff from her nose, still grinning but looking more amused now by Taylor’s attempts to flirt, “Ahhhh, no. Don’t press your luck cowboy. And don’t flirt with the girl that just saw you whining.” She shot him down coyfully, but added a little wink as she stepped out of the room. Taylor was left with his mouth humoursly wide open, “Wooooooow that was rude!” he yelled out as Iyra left the room. “I’m hurt!” “You’ll be okay!” She called out from the hall. “You’ve had your ass kicked a lot remember?!” Taylor scoffed out an airy laugh, and grinned, he loved the banter. That smile deleted itself though as he quickly realized Lance would be showing up to hammer him soon, and Just like that Lance marched in. Oddly enough, he didn’t obtain a completely ireful look on his face, it was slightly apologetic in some ways. With a quick movement from his hand he motioned Taylor to stand, “Up.” He stated calmly calling Taylor to his feet. Taylor hoisted himself up against the locker, being sure to lock a sorry expression on, “I’m sorry Lance.” He came right at Taylor immediately, “You should be! I told you early to knock that shit off, you can’t be doing all this fighting on here, you’re not just making yourself look bad, you’re making me look bad.” His voice was more subdued, as if he was pleading with Taylor rather than scolding him. “Just, take it down a notch man.” Lance was right, and Taylor just quietly nodded his head in agreement, “Alright, I’ll stop. It’s just, that asshole called me out, on what happened in the Alliance, how did Bones even find that out?” “It doesn’t matter Taylor, who cares what Saelian thinks.” Lance drilled back sternly, “You don’t have to be his friend, you just have to work around him.” Unable to stop himself from feeling like maybe Saelian was right, Taylor was second guessing his CO, “I don’t know Lance, what if he’s right about me? You probably shouldn’t of brought me along, trouble flocks to me.” Lance shook his head, he looked more disappointed in that moment than during the fight, “See that’s you problem Taylor.” He dished out as he glared at his friend, “You’re too busy worrying about what others think you are instead of worrying about who you really are. You’re a good guy, that’s why I brought you, I knew this would be good for you and you didn’t deserve to be languishing on Earth anymore. Ten out of ten times I’m still going to bring you along, so do me, and do yourself a favor, stop doubting yourself because of others. Just prove them wrong instead.” With that he turned to head out of the door, but Taylor stopped him, “Thanks Lance. I mean it.” He announced. “I love you dude”. Lance simply gave a short nod before adding one last commander-esq line, “You’re welcome. But if you ever do any of this shit again, I’ll leave you on some backwater planet.” But he added a short grin before leaving the room and calling out, “And quit with the sentimental shit!” The Captain, though his demeanor was beginning to cool, the aggravation from the earlier incident still had him in a bit of an agitated state, as he chaffed through the halls of the Aetherius, entering the research quarters to see it, slightly calmer than before. He approached, Roy, planted at his desk. Roy instantly took note of the Captain’s semi foul mood, “Captain, why so glum?” He asked. “Just my crew Roy.” He sat down across from Roy. “Tensions blew up down there I heard.” “Well, Kasper, things did get a little choppy on the ground.” Roy was slightly pleading on the part of the team, “Losing one of your own is never easy.” Kasper remained incensed in his expression, “I don’t need them fighting each other, and I’d prefer not to speak of it anymore Doctor, just tell me what you found down there.” He had felt enough guilt that he didn’t lead the expedition. That they risk their lives while he was left to the comfort of his ship. Not wanting to push the issue anymore, Roy apologized, “Of course, Captain, my apologies. But yes, we made some, interesting discoveries...to say the least.” He declared, with a bit of uncertainty in his voice as he looked to the back of the room, where Olassia sat, being reevaluated and checked by Quell, a look of worry across her face. “We are absolutely on the right track, that much is confirmed.” It was clear to Kasper the doctor had more to say, “But?” “But, things got complicated.” Being a man of detail, the doctor had to explain most of what had happened. “This outpost was no mere prothean bunker, it housed 25,000 cryo pods.” Kasper was ever detached “And?” “Oh.” Roy muttered disappointingly, hoping the captain would ask some question, he continued, “It turns out the Reapers had indoctrinated the Prothean director of the outpost, he sealed himself inside and prevented the bunker’s use. However, more significant than that, we confirmed that Vey’Kosa was in fact real, and waged war with the Protheans, but he, and his heart, what the Protheans call the Dark Heart, were lost, on Numia.” “Hm. Stand up kind of guy.” The Captain had heard of Numia, it was, by all known knowledge, untouched, and lingering on the edge of the galaxy. “Numia? All the way out there?” “Indeed. Now apparently, this Dark Heart was something of immense technological power, so much so, hundreds of years later when the Reapers arrived, the Protheans sought to excavate the object, intent on utilizing it against their invaders. The Reapers, countered them there, and battled them off the planet, so this bunker, was then established, in hopes of awakening the Protheans within, releasing them after the invasion, and harnessing the power of the Heart to use against the Reapers in the next cycle.” Kasper put the pieces together himself, between the Reaper’s countering the Protheans on Numia, and sabotaging their cryo initiative, they clearly didn’t want the Protheans to find this Heart. “And you think it’s a good idea to pursue something that even the Reapers feared.” Roy had already planned to subdue this argument, “Captain, the Reapers are gone, and more than likely, they did not fear what ever this Heart is. The Reapers, as with our cycle, sought to eliminate any advantage their prey had, in order to make the harvest as efficient as possible. They sabotaged the Protheans plans in regards to the Heart, just for the convenience of it.” He pondered to himself for a moment, thinking of how to explain Olassia’s situation. “Now, something else happened. The Protheans had concealed something called the Key within this vault, it was described as being the powersource to the Heart, retrieved during the final battle with Vey’Kosa. It’s how they defeated him presumably. We found it, and Olassia, removed the device, but it disassembled itself, liquidating and her body absorbed it…” Kasper looked into the other room, at the disgruntled Olassia, and then back to Roy, “She’s okay though?” “Yes, it would appear so. But the Key, has from all of our observations, become one with her.” He tried to think of a less dramatic way to phrase it but couldn’t, “She has become the Key.” The Captain puckered his lips and raised his eyebrows, that wasn’t something he had expected. “This certainly has become strange. But nonetheless Doctor, we’ll set course for Numia. We’re making one more stop however, Altakiril.” Altakiril was a world that stood as a monument to the Reaper War, decimated by planetary bombardment, the entire population was nearly wiped out. But after the war, it rebuilt, though remained a war zone between various Terminus Systems factions that invaded the troubled planet. In recent decades it has remained under the control of a pirate faction known as the Wumara Gang. Notorious as ruthless cutthroats as well as radical vigilantes at war with the tyrannical Exodus Dominion. Roy wasn’t entirely excited about the idea of visiting a pirate planet, “I hope we won’t be there long…” As Kasper headed for the door he looked back and smirked, “Don’t worry Doctor, we’ll keep it short. And besides, nothing like the nightlife to bring the best out of ya.” Back down in his cabin, Saelian sat, quietly, eyes focused on his feet as he massaged his mandible with his hand. Perks of having an exoskeleton, no one could tell when you’re bruising, Taylor through quite a haymaker, and Saelian certainly could feel it. Rhoen walked in, with a strong, scolding look on his face, “So is this it? Are you done? You’re a fuckhole.” Saelian remained quiet for a moment, he was embarrassed, thinking that a situation like that actually happened, he let out a deep sigh and brought his hand back down. “I don’t even want to talk about man. I don’t know what happened.” “You fucking brawled. In front of the whole crew. Both of you looked like assholes.” Rhoen had warned Saelian about his attitude the entire journey so far, it was time to lay into him. “ The Turian wiped his eyes, he was crashing, becoming tired as the adrenaline slipped away, “I’m surprised Kasper didn’t throw me off of the ship right there. I deserved it.” Rhoen was in agreement, “Yeah, I sure as Hell would of. But Saelian, you had no reason to go at that kid like that, you owe him an apology.” “Like Hell I do!” Saelian snapped back, even though he second guessed himself on the inside, he couldn’t help feel a bit childish, but his pride was too immense. “Stop blaming other people when there’s no one to blame.” Rhoen demanded, in reference to Nidel’s death. “Taylor didn’t want that to happen, and you’re just picking a fight if you say otherwise. You’re just trying to be everyone’s enemy.” Saelian sat up, and leaned his back against the wall, staring into the ceiling. He hadn’t been a pleasant individual, not for some time at least, since the Korro. He was jaded, anti-social, hated most people, everything he saw in combat, the friends he lost had made him the way he was. Particularly, he lost comrades due to the carelessness of others he worked with, the root of his attitude towards Taylor. “The guy isn’t cut out for this.” Rhoen scoffed and shook his head, “He killed that beast by himself, he survived nonetheless as well.” He countered, Rhoen had no disdain for the human, young and willing to try, it’s all that mattered, “And here’s an old Krogan saying for you Saelian, not every Krogan can be the strongest warrior, but each must inspire his peers to battle at his side. The way I see this, we’re a team, and if what happened down there is any indication of what’s to come, we all need to motivate each other. You and the human included.” The thought of that sank in his head for a moment, but he wouldn’t admit it, instead, Saelian sought only to change the subject, as he looked towards his backpack, opened with several empty boxes of the dextro food Turians needed to eat. “Did… did you eat my snacks.” Rhoen smirked, unashamed, “Yeah I ran out so I got a bit hungry.” He felt his stomach shift as an uneasy expression shot across his face. “It just gave me the runs though. Uhh, I’ll see you later!” he yelled as he quickly hustled from the room, and ran towards the bathrooms. “Out of my way I gotta pyjack coming out my ass!” his yell echoed down the hallway back into the room, it shot a short grin across Saelian’s face. The lumbering Krogan stumbled by the hallway leading to engineering and the med bay, catching both Iyra and Abigail by surprise. Abigail, from the krogan’s body language alone knew what he was experiencing. “Okaayy, well neither of us should use the bathroom anytime soon. That’s a fact.” “Eh” Iyra muttered out with a nauseous expression. “Who knows, it could be a refreshing scent!” “So what the Hell has happened? On the ship and down there on the planet?” Abigail asked,as she looked back to a body, Nidel’s, under a cover on stretcher, “Because ol coldstone over here just isn’t spillin the goods!” Iyra shot a look of concern at her friend, making jokes about a man who just died, “Abi!” she scorned, before cracking a smile and letting out a little, “Ha. Coldstone. But seriously!” she snapped back to scolding, “Don’t make jokes. We got attacked, the rest of us were all trapped in a stasis, besides Nidel over there and Taylor.” “Uhoh” Abigail remarked, another bit of ribbing inbound, “Ya boi! Is he okay?” Rolling her eyes, Iyra answered back, mocking a laugh, “Stop. And yeah, he’s okay, I think. Killed the thing, felt really bad over what happened to Nidel. But when we got back here, him and that asshole Turian got into a brawl.” “Christ, and what did Kasper do?” Abigail asked as she looked over Nidel’s corpse. “Broke it up.” Iyra took a sip of her coffee, stirring it, not enough caffeine she thought to herself, “That guy was such an asshole though, I honestly don’t blame Taylor for doing what he did.” Abigail was cleaning her stations and smiled, “Ahh, classic, you’re already taking sides huh?” “Ugggh” Iyra bemoaned, “I’ma change the subject. How has your life been Abigail?” The typical high energy, high press, Abigail seemed to dull down upon being asked that question, “Uhhh, you know, lots of this” she explained motioning to all the equipment in her room, “A little bit of that.” pointing to Nidel’s dead body, and once again receiving another look from Iyra. As Abigail thought about the issues that were really on her mind she bore an expression of distress. “Moms still sick, not getting any better. She ask about Mikey all of the time...I have to keep telling her he’s just too busy to talk.” Mikey was Abigail’s brother, who served on the Aetherius for sometime, but left out of the blue one day, and hasn’t been heard from since. Her mother on the other hand, had been ill for sometime, Abigail and her brother joined the Aetherius, primarily with the intent to use the money to help pay for her treatments. Seeing Abigail was becoming flush in the face and teary eyed, Iyra knew her friend wasn’t adept at talking about these sorts of things, so she sought to bounce her back to her comfort zone, “Uhhh, Rojolocos!” She called out, digging into Abigials personal hidden alcohol cabinet, she quickly began mixing the drink. Abigail let out a breath of air, “Oh lawdy jesus.” She cried out excitedly, “Let momma get some!” Over the next several minutes Abigail became quite tipsy, and somewhat belligerent as her perverted side broke through once more, she began to harrass Iyra over her sexual inactivity and began constantly using the phrase, “Bang them good”. Even when it didn’t make sense. Iyra laughed, at the very least Abigail always cracked her up, even if it wasn’t a bit obnoxious at times, but she was glad to have her, even if at times it was at the expense of her own humiliation. She started to zone out as Abigail proceeded to vulgarly suggest outlandish ideas to Iyra, and though it wasn’t any of those concepts that were manifesting in her brain, she was starting to believe, that this journey, something about it felt different, and she couldn’t help but wonder what was on the horizon…. Apperances Characters *Taylor McClellan *Nidel Aekso *Morkgul Rhoen *Saelian Praxiun *Erinn Winters *Eliae Aemon *Kasper Martial *Iyra Aldonia *Lance Shaw *Roy Albrighton *Olassia Amore *Quell Satch *Abigail Mangjeol *Mikey Mangjeol (Mentioned) Factions *Wumara Gang (Mentioned) Vessels *MSV Aetherius Locations *Numia (Mentioned) *Altakiril (Mentioned) *Korro (Mentioned) Trivia Category:Articles by WolfOfTheEast Category:WolfOfTheEast Category:COSG Category:Chronicles of a Silent Galaxy Category:Chapters